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The U.S. News & World Report's John Farrell asks the question that dare not speak its name: Has any city ever sucked so hard at sports? Listing some examples that are only all-too familiar to fans of athletic team competition in the District, Farrell makes his case: Despite early assurances every year that the team is Super Bowl bound, the "barely mediocre" Redskins perpetually grace the bottom of the NFL rankings, the bottom feeders of the NFC East. Farrell writes that "Everyone knows why Mark Teixeira snubbed the Nationals and took the Yankees' money: Washington teams are Losers." And about the Wizards, Farrell says that you have to look back to the days of the Bullets to find significant victories. Of course, he goes on to heap praise on the Caps for serving as a guiding light through difficult times. But the question still stands — is there not a city out there less successful at playing sports? Detroit? New Orleans?
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Having grown up in Detroit, it's clear Kriston is riding on the Lions' recent troubles when mentioning Detroit. If she actually did her research, she'd see that Detroit's other sports franchises are highly competitive. The Red Wings are current Stanley Cup champions (and have consistently reached the playoffs for over 15 years, with other recent Stanley Cups in 97, 98 and 2002), the Tigers won the American League pennant in 2006, the Pistons have won the NBA finals in 89, 90 and 2004. Yes, the Lions are a laughing stock, but do your research rather than pulling a city out of recent headlines because of the troubles of ONE franchise.
i see kriston didn't reply to your defense of detroit, but i agree. outside of the lions, the tigers have been better as of late, the wings are always one of the best teams in the league, and the pistons have been on quite a good run the last decade...
(oh, and kriston's a he)
And we're limiting ourselves to sports why?
The Redskins won the Super Bowl in 1991. This guy is exaggerating that it's been 30 years.
well i know the answer's not philly!
You know, I don't know why people keep looking at an 8 and 8 record as such a terrible thing. Yes, no playoffs, but it could be much much worse.
Despite some heartbreakers, I was still pleased we beat Dallas once this year.
I've been going to DC United games since 1996. I've seen my hometown team win 4 MLS Cups, 4 Supporters' Shields (best regular-season record), 2 U.S. Open Cup titles, 1 CONCACAF Champions Cup, and 1 Interamerican Cup. So, yeah, I'm doing just fine as far as local sports go.
Also, I'm pretty sure that somewhere in Cleveland, someone read Farrell's drivel and started cackling maniacally.
Ummm... Buffalo.
Buffalo
But this is a question about real cities.
DC...a real city...LMFAO
Minneapolis
When the Phillies won the World Series in October, most sports pundits I heard crowned Cleveland as the most sad-sack sports town in America. Indians -- no championships. Cavaliers -- no championships. Browns -- no championships.
@Phil: Cleveland's got it pretty much worse than anyone, but not *that* bad:
Indians: 2 championships - 1920, 1948
Cavs: Zilch
Browns: 4 NFL Championships - 1950, 1954, 1955, 1964 (plus 4 AAFC titles before joining the NFL)
So, nothing since 1964...but not nothing ever.
I'll have to second the nomination of Cleveland. The Browns have their old titles, but have never won a Super Bowl. The Indians constantly blow it during the playoffs. And the Cavs are the Cavs.
Cleveland gets extra sad points for that one time their football team moved to Baltimore...
The Redskins, for being 'barely mediocre,' sure have made the playoffs a fair amount the last five years... Wizards are a decent team and DC United brings home the title every couple years.
Overall, despite the history of DC teams to underperform, we do alright for ourselves. Pretty sure we've had at least one team in the playoffs for a good percentage of the last few years. NATs could use some new ownership and Snyder could hire a decent GM, but for the most part we're not that bad off.